| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 May 1951 |
| Designations | |
| (1952) Hesburgh | |
Named after | Theodore M. Hesburgh (University president)[2] |
| 1951 JC · 1936 ND 1939 AB · 1940 GQ 1954 XC · 1974 KQ | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 77.14 yr (28,177 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.5522AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6708 AU |
| 3.1115 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1416 |
| 5.49yr (2,005 days) | |
| 175.77° | |
| 0° 10m 46.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.255° |
| 78.149° | |
| 339.27° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 32.39±8.33 km[4] 35.55±1.4 km(IRAS:15)[5] 37.501±0.151 km[6] 39.660±0.381 km[7] 41.27±1.19 km[8] |
| 47.7±0.1h[9][a] | |
| 0.078±0.005[8] 0.080±0.012[6] 0.0837±0.0130[7] 0.10±0.03[4] 0.1041±0.009(IRAS:15)[5] | |
| Tholen = CD:[1] · CD:[3] B–V = 0.756[1] U–B = 0.340[1] | |
| 10.31±0.33[10] · 10.32[1][3][5][8][7][4] | |
1952 Hesburgh, provisional designation1951 JC, is a rare-type carbonaceousasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 37 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 3 May 1951, byIU'sIndiana Asteroid Program atGoethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.[11] It was named for FatherTheodore M. Hesburgh.[2]
Hesburgh orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,005 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 14° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as1936 ND atJohannesburg Observatory in 1936. The body'sobservation arc begins at Goethe, five days after its official discovery observation.[11]
In March 2005, a rotationallightcurve ofHesburgh was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomerBrian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado. Lightcurve analysis gave a longer-than averagerotation period of 47.7 hours with a brightness variation of at least 0.18magnitude (U=2).[9][a]
In theTholen taxonomy,Hesburgh is a rare CD:spectral type,[1] an intermediary between the common carbonaceousC-type asteroid and the darkD-type asteroid, which is typical among theJupiter trojans beyond the main-belt. Another asteroid with a CD:-type is691 Lehigh.
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Hesburgh measures between 32.39 and 41.27 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.078 and 0.1041.[4][5][6][7][8] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.1041 and a diameter of 35.55 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 10.32.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after AmericanTheodore M. Hesburgh (1917–2015), a priest and president of theUniversity of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. He was also a member of theNational Science Board and played a decisive role for the founding of theKitt Peak National Observatory, as well as of the ChileanCerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory during the 1960s.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 January 1981 (M.P.C. 5688).[12]
